Kary Mullis

"Every child starts as a natural scientist; most of them just get trained out of it."

"The mechanism of life is beautiful precisely because it is so elegant and economical."

"True friendship exists between people who challenge each other to think better."

"I never wanted to be famous. I wanted to understand something no one had understood before."

"The patience required for scientific work is the same patience required for any worthwhile pursuit."

"Gratitude for my mistakes taught me more than gratitude for my achievements ever could."

"Art and science are not opposites; they are different languages for the same underlying truth."

"Every discovery is built on the courage to say 'I don't know' and mean it."

"The greatest love I've ever known is the love of understanding something previously incomprehensible."

"Money is a tool, not a destination. The real reward is in the work itself."

"Health is not merely the absence of disease; it's the presence of harmony between body and mind."

"The history of science is the history of overturning conventional wisdom."

"Music and molecular biology operate on the same principle: harmony and variation."

"Faith in the scientific method means accepting that nature will ultimately reveal the truth."

"A true leader is someone who makes other people smarter just by being around them."

"Work becomes meaningful when you understand its purpose beyond the paycheck."

"Dreams are the first draft of discovery; most people never finish writing theirs."

"Peace comes not from avoiding conflict but from understanding it deeply enough to move beyond it."

"I've learned that fear is often a sign you're about to do something worth doing."

"The polymerase chain reaction is a technique for making many copies of a piece of DNA. It's like photocopying DNA."

"I'm not interested in just having money. I'm interested in understanding how the world works."

"Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire. That's not my line, but it's true enough."

"You don't have to be a genius to win a Nobel Prize. You just have to be persistent."

"The most important thing in life is to remain curious about everything."

"Intuition is the residue of experience impressed upon the unconscious mind."

"I like to go surfing. It's a way of getting in touch with the ocean and yourself."

"The greatest discoveries often come from asking simple questions."

"Don't let other people's opinions of you become your reality."

"Music and science are deeply connected. Both are about finding patterns."

"If you want to change the world, you have to be willing to fail spectacularly."